Fabio Capello was in buoyant mood after seeing England display the spirit he had demanded to set up a last-16 World Cup showdown against Germany.
Jermain Defoe scored the only goal as England beat Slovenia and with the USA defeating Algeria it means Capello's men, who finished runners-up in Group C, will now face the Germans on Sunday. Now the England manager believes his team can only get better.
Capello said: "I saw the team play with the spirit that we lost in the games we played before this game (against USA and Algeria). The performance was really good and we created a lot of chances to score a second goal."
Years | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
2006 | Italy | France | Germany |
2002 | Brazil | Germany | Turkey |
1998 | France | Brazil | Croatia |
1994 | Brazil | Italy | Sweden |
1990 | Germany | Argentina | Italy |
1986 | Argentina | Germany | France |
1982 | Italy | Germany | Poland |
1978 | Argentina | Holland | Brazil |
1974 | Germany | Holland | Poland |
1970 | Brazil | Italy | Germany |
1966 | England | Germany | Portugal |
1962 | Brazil | Czech | Chile |
1958 | Brazil | Sweden | France |
1954 | Germany | Hungary | Austria |
1950 | Uruguay | Brazil | Sweden |
1938 | Italy | Hungary | Brazil |
1934 | Italy | Czech | Germany |
1930 | Uruguay | Argentina | America |